Public opinion polling shows most Utahns do not support President Trump’s plan to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and they’ve never really been on board with the idea.
Our polling stretching back more than a year shows remarkable consistency from Utahns toward the idea of a wall on the border, especially when they’re asked if they believe American taxpayers should foot the bill for the wall. President Trump repeatedly promised during his 2016 campaign Mexico would pay for the wall.
In four separate statewide polls taken since September of 2017, a majority of Utahns said they opposed constructing the wall:
- September 2017 – 58% of Utahns said they opposed building the wall with taxpayer money, while only 41% were in favor.
- February 2018 – 59% of Utahns said they were against using federal funds to build a wall on the border, while just 38% supported the idea.
- May 2018 – 55% of Utahns were opposed to using taxpayer money to build the border wall. 42% were in favor.
- August 2018 – 58% said they were opposed to building the border wall with federal money. 40% were unopposed.
That lack of support for the wall in the Beehive State is likely the reason most of Utah’s members of Congress are reluctant to endorse the wall. Instead, several are trying to paint the issue with the broader brush of “border security” while using President Trump’s new term, “barrier” to refer to the wall.
Sen. Mike Lee, along with Reps. Rob Bishop, John Curtis and Chris Stewart all cited border security, not the wall when asked for a comment about President Trump’s Tuesday night primetime speech attempting to secure funding for the border.
On Wednesday, Sen. Mitt Romney also jumped on the “border security” train when asked about whether he would vote for a plan that did not include the $5.7 billion Trump is demanding for the wall.
“I’m concerned about the financial challenges that many Utah families and business are facing as federal workers start to miss paychecks. I’m hopeful this will be resolved soon in a way that protects border security and reopens the government, and that’s what I’m focused on with my colleagues,” said Romney in an email statement.
